The Tribune

He finished with a double double, but Dwight Coleby’s homecoming was spoiled by the No.5 ranked team in the NCAA Division I USA Today/Coaches Poll.

Coleby finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but his Western Kentucky Hilltoppers suffered a 66-58 loss to the Villanova Wildcats in game two on the opening day of the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis.

Coleby shot 6-10 from the floor and added two steals.

Hilltoppers head coach Rick Stansbury made light of his graduate transfer’s production in his return home.

“I can guarantee this is the first double-double he’s ever put up at home,” Stansbury said jokingly. “He’s improving. Although he is a fifth year senior, there is not a lot of in-game experience there. He missed a year and then averaged just one point at Kansas. When he first started with us, he used to be so excited to score that he’d travel a lot. He just wasn’t used to having the ball thrown to him as we’re feeding him. So he still has some work to do, but we are asking him to do a lot and play a lot of minutes. By the time the year is done, if he continues at this pace, he’s going to be a load.”

Villanova, which won Battle 4 Atlantis in 2013, got off to another good start in 2017 by pulling away in the second. The Wildcats remain undefeated on the season at 4-0 while the Hilltoppers fell to 2-2.

A shorthanded WKU dressed just eight players in the contest. Coleby’s first basket came at the 16 minute mark with a layup too give the Hilltoppers a 6-5 lead early on. They held on to a 9-5 lead before Brunson scored seven of the first nine to trim the defecit. WKU maintained a 22-17 lead. Villanova tied it at 22 on Donte DiVincenzo three and took a 27-24 lead into the half

Villanova led by only a single point, 34-33, five minutes into the second half. Then they went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to make the score 48-35, and the margin remained in double digits until the final seconds. Jalen Brunson’s three brought the Wildcat crowd to its feet and sparked a run that decided the game late.

“They find ways to have spurts and make runs, and that’s what they did there in the second half,” Stansbury sai. “I’m really proud of our team’s effort, but I’m disappointed with the way we kind of let the game get away from us in the second half.”

Four years ago, the Wildcats were an unranked team coming off a 20-14 season when they arrived in Atlantis for the 2013 tournament. They proceeded to beat No. 2 Kansas, No. 23 Iowa and USC to claim the tournament title. That was the beginning of a four-season run during which Villanova posted a combined record of 129-17, winning the 2016 national championship along the way.

Brunson scored 18 points, Mikal Bridges had 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. T DiVincenzo scored 12 points in the second half.

“He’s really an unselfish guy,” Wright said of DiVincenzo. “We really have six starters. He’s a guy who just said, ‘I don’t care. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.’ So he comes in off the bench and he’s incredible, and brings great energy. He was awesome in the second half.”

Darius Thompson led the way for WKU with 16 points.

The Hilltoppers will face Purdue today at 7pm while Villanova advanced to face the winner of yesterday’s opener, the Tennessee Volunteers.